happypuppyrecords (Curator)

When Brett Wiese Saunders finished filming his documentary Slipping: Skate's Impact on Egypt, he needed a soundtrack for it.. and found it while browsing the FMA.

Unfortunately, a number of songs were perfect for the film but were licensed as non-commercial.  Even though his documentary was a commercial venture, artists who had licensed their music as non-commercial, such as Blue Swerver, Good Old Neon, and Learning Music, gave Brett permission for their music to appear in the spirit of creation.

Brett is raising funds through Kickstarter to get his doc released on DVD, paying for production costs and also passing a portion of the funding onto the musicians.

Meanwhile, since the soundtrack was sourced from tracks found on FMA, you can download it for free as a preview:

I love collecting song-poems, as does Bob Purse. 

Not just song-poems, but Bob is a music collector of the strange, the odd, the outside.  And not only has he collected for years, he shares a lot of it on the infamous WFMU Beware The Blog, as well as his own blog, The Wonderful and the Obscure

On the occasion of his 50th birthday, he posted some of his original material on his blog that he had recorded privately over the years.  They came from a cassette he originally shared with friends and family back in 1997 called The Many Moods Of Bob.

After hearing Bob's songs, I was very interesting in hearing the rest of the tracks, and I contacted him with the idea of releasing the entire album for free download.

What follows is a truly fantastic DIY album, up there with the likes of R. Stevie Moore, the weird 4-track stuff by Ween, etc.  Not only does Bob has a knack for writing off-the-wall tunes, but he's also covered a song-poem, a handful of obscure commercials, and a couple of parodies, recalling my younger-days of hearing this kind of stuff on Dr. Demento ("Bad TV Acting" [mp3] was even played by Dr. D on May 16, 1999).

Time to dim the lights, pour a glass of your favourite beverage and enjoy the Many Moods of Bob Purse!

I first discovered Spookey while listening to tracks on a CMJ sampler (remember those?) and "These Days Are Old" came on.  Blown away by that single track that sounded like Andy Partridge (XTC) from Mars, I bought his first album and remained a fan ever since.

He has worked constantly producing his own music, as well as others and a few years ago created a series of video shorts for AUXTV called Dizzy Playground, that somehow managed to get Feist, Melissa Auf der Maur and John McEntire (of The Sea and Cake/Tortoise) involved.

Recently, Spookey's taken almost all of his catalog and put up at Bandcamp for free download (for a limited time!)

It might be a little daunting to tackle all the great music there, so with his permission, I've put together this collection of my fave Spookey tracks, which might  help introduce you to one of Canada's most original artists.

Being a lover of smart pop writers like like Todd Rundgren, Andy Partridge of XTC, Harry Nilsson, Brian Wilson, The Beatles, etc..it's not surprising why I like the music of The Simple Carnival.

It's undeniable the one-man band of Jeff Boller is influenced by those very same artists, not merely in songwriting style, but also in the creative production process as well; constantly innovating and challenging themselves for the higest quality.  Even in the day of vanity-projects galore, he brings the standard of home-recording to a whole new level.

For instance, no sound on any Simple Carnival song is made via midi - when Jeff wanted a marimba and couldn't find a used one for sale, he built one instead.

That kind of dedication crosses over into his songwriting, which seems to come effortlessly to him; every song different and instantly catchy, even at his most experimental. 

Always learning and wanting to share, he also runs the Songs and Sonics blog, interviewing other artists about their music and sharing recording tips and tricks.

His latest project is a "Smitten 3-D" album - a 3-D video is being made from scratch for each song on his forthcoming album.  Currently he's just completed video #2 for the song "Everything That Grownups Know", which took 5 months:

In possibly his most nerdy move yet, Lee Rosevere's latest project is music inspired by the writing of Isaac Asimov, known for his many science-fiction stories.

This project kinda makes sense, given that Lee's previous works (like the three installments of the Light Years albums I, II and III) have been likened to unofficial scores for non-existent sci-fi movies.  It isn't essential to be familiar with the Asimov stories the songs are named after, but it does enhance the listening experience.

The album is available now on FMA (also available in lossless FLAC with extra goodies), and here is the first 'single' "The Machine That Won The War", sync'd to an edited version of the film "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" by George Melies (1902, public domain via archive.org).

A stormy night pushes you to toward a huge and dark house belonging to the reclusive Dr. Slocum, a mysterious genius who converted a closed asylum into an evil labratory, where he hides from the world with his menage of monsters of science.  But the ghosts that haunted the asylum are still there...

Once inside you hear ghostly pianos with no-one playing them, strange moans and cries of terror, floating spirits, dark and empty operating chambers, and more than one dungeon inhabited by abandoned 'experiments'...

Ok, cheesy description aside...

...you always see those "Sounds of Horror" CDs for sale in the shops during Halloween, and most of the time they are of the 'overdoing-it' variety in design.  They are always more comical or cartoony, than actually scary.

So Lee Rosevere designed this nearly 45 minute spooky-suite of truly unsettling and disturbing sounds, free to use for all your Halloween purposes.

Listening on headphones will prove the most rewarding (and creepy) experience, but it's also great for putting in the front window of your house to add eerie ambience during the trick-or-treating hours. 

It is intended for non-commercial use, but if you are holding a charity event and would like to use it, please be our guest.

Happy haunting! 

photo by Shoes On Wires

Happy Puppy is proud to present a 'virtual single' release by Canadian singer/songwriter Morgan Sadler.

She describes her musical creations as beautiful disasters with thoughtful, yet sometimes obscure lyrics, sung with sincere emotion.

Morgan has been performing and writing for years, getting her start at The Merchant, in Kingston ONT.

Since then, she formed a trio and released her first EP called Turn, showcasing her songwriting and performing skills - we expect that she won't stay on the indie circuit for long.

"Go On" won a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best Song 2009-2010 and "Going Nowhere" is featured on the b-side.

I first discovered the music of Reggie Regan in 1990 while sifting through a box of 45s at my local Winnipeg University radio station - CDs were just becoming more common, and the station manager wanted to make room, so he said I could take whatever 45s I wanted.  Wrong thing to say to me.

While digging through the milkcrates of neglected vinyl, I found this indie release entitled Reggie Regan's Greatest Hits Volume 1 (yes, he did it before the Rheostatics).  I was intrigued, especially when one of the songs was "Burning Swedish Meatballs".

I listened to it at home and I was taken by it's quirky charm, a blend of new wave and slighty off-kilter pop.  Who was this guy?  No info available on the label, other than it was released in 1984.  I looked him up in 1997 when I got online but there was nothing.

Fast-forward to early 2011, and going through some of my vinyl that I was transferring to CD I wanted to upgrade my copy and thought to look his name up online again. 

This time, I discover a lot more about Reggie, mostly through his friends blog: Reggie lived in Winnipeg for a time doing the odd gig and released this one and only record (now a hit in cult circles).

He also knows how to fix transmissions, fixes up spare houses, he's an emergency flight-crew nurse, he's a medical legal consultant, and he spends alot of his time building bat houses in efforts to control mosquito populations - one of the unknown heroes from Canada (ok technically he's been in the States for a long time too).

And now with Reggie's kind permission, he is going to take over the interweb by re-releasing his only-ever record available for free download on Happy Puppy.  He also generously donated a scan of the original vinyl sleeve art (mine didn't have one) so you can get the full Reggie experience.

Happy Puppy is proud to announce the re-release of a long out-of-print and rare debut EP by Canadian band Plumtree.

Plumtree were originally out of Halifax, made a big impression early on and that continues today, ten years after they broke up, thanks to starting that whole Scott Pilgrim thing.

They released one cassette EP, three albums and a handful of singles in their 7-year lifespan, making a mark on the Canadian indie scene with their smart, spunky and fun rock music.  And Plumtree did rock.

I never felt that the band truly got the attention and respect they deserve: they were one of the best groups to come out of Canada and I'm extremely happy that the band have given me permission to make their debut EP from 1994 Flutterboard available on Happy Puppy for free download (for a limited time!).

These tracks are from their cassette master, and if you like what you hear, please visit their site where you can purchase their new 'best of' collection and other assorted Plumtree goodness (including Carla and Lynette's new SISTER project) or consider a donation for their generosity.